Thursday, December 30, 2010

I will be hitting the road tomorrow morning to spend New Year's Eve with some great friends. I will not be training tomorrow, so this is my last post of the year. My last training session of the year was pretty good.

This session was a great way to end my year. I started 2010 new to Gym Movement protocols. Now it's the only way I train. This training has spilled over into all aspects of my life making every part of it better. I am starting 2011 in a much better place than I did 2010. I intend to go into 2012 better than 2011. The cycle will continue.

I hope you will continue to follow along on my journey of branching out, growing stronger and happier by following my own body.

Then I did a bunch of rolls - side-to-side, log rolls, egg rolls. They eased the tension in my back.

1 Hand KB Swing - 28 kg (62 lbs.) - 15 min.Left - 210 reps, Right - 210 reps = 420 reps26,040 lbs. = 1736 lbs./min. = 28 reps/min.-These got me sweating. I did 10 reps per hand and switched. I did 40 reps total before setting the bell down to rest. I found that a wider stance alleviated the back tweak that started after about the 100th rep.

After that, I put in the TRX video and did the workout that comes with it. I suppose that lasted 15 minutes. I didn't time it. It was fun and I was able to adjust the resistance so that I didn't burn myself out. I was in a fantastic mood after I finished, so that tells me it was good for my state to move in those ways.

I just keep experimenting, and as a result, I just keep learning. I love that I can get rid of my own pain so easily. I wish everyone could do that. *Sigh*

For the curious - I tested various positions with the press. Plate press with a split stance and torso rotation during each rep tested best.

For the Sumo DL, I used a 24 kg and 28 kg kettlebell and switched hands each set. It definitely felt better to hold the heavier bell in my left hand. Silly me. I thought I had to switch so that I would be balanced. Have I learned nothing? Blonde moment! (Sorry Mike T, Adam, and Frankie!)

Monday, December 20, 2010

Since I'm on Christmas break, I had extra time for my training today. I tested so many variations of drills, more than I usually have time to test. As a result, I found the perfect positions for each of the three drills I did today.

I also tried out some positions that are not the norm. For example, I tried sumo DL with my torso rotated. It felt awesome. I just did very light weight (20 kg), and it released a lot of tension in my back.

I found for my inverted TRX rows that my right hand tested best supinated and my left tested best prone. My KB swings tested best with a thumbless grip and wide stance. So much fun to play around with the possibilities.

TRX Inverted Rows - 1 arm - 5 minutesLeft - 40 reps, Right - 40 repsIntensity PR - my feet were positioned closer to the point of attachment.Density PR - more reps in the same amount of time, plus I did one-arm instead of two arms.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Ten four, good buddy! My semester is over and I'm outta there. I am ready for a few days away from grading papers. I do have a lot of ideas to work up over my break for my spring semester classes. I'm going to blow my students away!

A professor can dream, can't she?

Seriously, I have so many new activities and assignments I want to try to make my classes better. It's going to be fun!

Know what else is fun? Gym Movement training. I had the best training session today. After gorging myself on Christmas goodies all week, I vowed to work out for three hours today. Luckily it didn't take three hours to get in some quality movements and make myself feel fantastic.

So many drills tested well today. It was insane. I chose the six that tested best and put them in a circuit.

I did four rounds of drills. Listed above are my total reps for the four rounds. Today was the first time in months that snatches test well. Cleans and swings work essentially the same range of motion in the lower body, but don't put stress between my shoulder blades. Plus, cleans and swings allow me to move a lot more weight. I'm curious to see how my body reacts to the snatches and if my pain will come back. If so, I'm good with leaving snatches out of my regimen.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

My friend Sue reminded me today that my semester will be over in two sleeps. I was whining about all the grading I had to do by Friday. Two sleeps. That made me feel better. I now feel like I'll make it through. I'll survive the research essays, the literature essay exams, the advanced comp essays, and the grammar finals. Two sleeps and they'll be a memory. Thank you for the perspective, Sue!

I'm going to miss that. Sue is retiring from teaching at my college. Friday is her last day. I can't believe it! She's been my mentor and go-to gal. She's been like a second mom and a best friend. I know she's still going to be around at work, but it just won't feel the same. She's been there since I started. She has taught me so much. Sue has moxy and I like that! Every young woman should have a mentor with brains, heart, and guts like Sue.

After leaving work, I went to the gym ready to move. I tested a bunch of drills and came up with a great circuit workout.

It's hard to say, but I'd guesstimate that I moved at least 30,000 lbs. today.

I'm really loving the TRX for several reasons. First, it allows me to work in a greater range of motion. I can also tailor my movements for what tests best - anatomy-based movement. As a result, I'm not sore. The other thing I like about it is the adaptability. I can adjust my position to increase or decrease the resistance, and I can do it with every set, even rep. That allows me to move a lot without displaying an element of effort as quickly as I would with a static amount of weight.

I think I also like that using the TRX is a challenge, something different. My brain LOVES different, in every aspect of my life. That's a whole other blogpost. Well, maybe a memoir!

Today the best position was regular stance and an arched back. While pressing, I twisted my torso. It was so stinking easy! I kept my pace slow and my body tension-free. It took me a few minutes to find the best position, but I know it will pay off, and not just in the short-term.

I am my own guinea pig experimenting on myself. So far, the results are impressive. I was pain-free in my mid-back this weekend. I slept so good and woke up ready to go instead of feeling stiff and achey in my mid-back. Could it really be this easy to relieve my pain? Do a few movements and eliminate the discomfort? Really?

Sunday, December 12, 2010

The blizzard left grass and driveways exposed while simultaneously leaving six foot drifts. Crazy!

These pictures were all taken at our George, IA funeral home. There is an 8 foot drift along the east side of the building, but the pavement there is completely snow free. There was a five foot drift across the south and west side of the parking lot that blocked the street as well. Pretty cool to see.

Friday, December 10, 2010

I've had a nagging ache in my mid-back for several weeks. I'm working my way through several movement options to find what alleviates it. I've been plate pressing in a split stance with my torso rotated. That has made it better, but it hasn't eliminated it.

Mike T Nelsonsuggested I arch my back when pressing. That's what I did today. Presses tested well, so I tested various positions. I'll be danged if arching my back while in a split stance didn't test the best. Plate press tested better than KB. I also had to turn my head while pressing to eliminate tension from my neck. I tested for speed, and wound up with a slower pace than I've been using the past few weeks.

I finished with TRX rows. Those felt amazing! They really allowed me to open up my chest in the top of the row. I did 50 of those in 5 min. I'm having fun with the TRX!

Tomorrow I get to spend my afternoon in a meeting. Yippee!! We're supposed to get hit with a blizzard, so it's a good thing I decided to call in to the meeting instead of driving 4 hours to it. Maybe I'll get Christmas cookies made and presents wrapped.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Training today, however quick, pulled me through the day. It also helped pull me through this sinus/chest congestion gunk I can't seem to shake. I just read that Iowa has been hit with three different flu strains. Great. Don't you just love winter?!?

Pulls tested well today - deadlift and pull downs. I haven't done pull downs for years, literally. I figured they would allow me more speed than band-assisted pullups, and I was right.

Now I have a baseline for both drills with my speed work. As long as fast tests well, I will move fast. Doing so makes it easy to detect the first element of effort (slowing down). Duh! I'm also experimenting to see what it does for my body composition and strength. There are many theories, but I'm only interested in how my body responds. I'll keep you posted.

Friday, December 3, 2010

I've been conscientiously working on the speed of my movements. Specifically, I've been moving weight as quickly as I can. I'm curious how my body will respond. I can say that even though I moved relatively light weights today, I had a great training session.